Attacking Obama Where He’s Strong

Fred Kaplan is taken aback by the audacity of McCain's and Rice's speeches last night:

If elections were decided on issues, the Republicans would stay away from foreign policy this year. Even drifting into that realm risks reminding voters of Obama’s clear advantage. But some political strategist must have reasoned that they can’t just let the issue go, especially since foreign policy is the one area where presidents have a lot of power to do things by themselves. If the Republicans in 2004 could turn a war hero like John Kerry into a coward, and a reserve pilot who never saw battle like George W. Bush into a war hero, maybe they think they can turn the president who terminated the world’s most-wanted terrorist into a rudderless wimp. Whoever booked McCain and Rice on the same night of the Republican National Convention must have thought, "It’s worth a shot."